A place to ramble and maybe make some sense about a thing or two.

Archive for the tag “eyes”

I know there’s nothing wrong ’cause I just had an MRI a little over a month ago and just the brain is up there like it’s supposed to be. But all weekend I’ve been having migraines & thought I’d finally kicked it.

Nope. Tonight just after I watched a show I wanted to see on television the stupid headache came right back.

Another night with ice on my head. And a washcloth on my eyes ’cause they’re hurting too. Maybe I should just ask the rest of the body to start adding their aches and pains to the pile tonight. Get it all over with in one shot.

My neuro-opthalmalogist just called with the results of my ERG test I had last Friday. He apologized that he’d not contacted me earlier with the results. He thought that I still had the test to take and not that the results were waiting on his desk (since he runs the lab for the university).

The ERG (Electroretinography) came back normal. All of the little rods and cones in my retinas were firing signals to my brain during the test as they should, with the typical degeneration that would be seen in a 40-year-old patient. And he reviewed the MRI results again and said that there were no signs of strokes, tumors, MS (Multiple Sclerosis), or anything else that he could see that would be causing my optical problems.

I’m very relieved. At least we now know that there’s not something incredibly serious and/or possibly life-threatening happening in my brain. The only down side (which he admitted as well) is that we still don’t know why I can’t see at night, why my vision cannot be corrected with glasses to better than 20/60 (bordering on not being legally able to drive at any time in our state), and why I have headaches so often every month. But the best thing I heard come out of his mouth was this — that it’s not just “all in my head.” He believes there’s something wrong and believes that I’m not making it up. Finally!!! Someone understands!!!

True, he did mention that all of this could just fix itself with time. That would be wonderful. How much time, though, isn’t known. I can’t put my life on hold waiting for something to magically happen. He also said that, technically, it could just get worse in time. That’s not terribly reassuring either. But, he’s got an idea to at least help me cope with it and make the best out of what vision I do have remaining.

He’s going to refer me to the university’s low-vision center/occupational therapy center. There, I can work with them using what I can do and find adaptive materials/equipment to help me be able to work and continue a “normal” life. Driving may still be an issue, but they can help me with that or at least help me get assistance with my employer for reasonable accommodation. And, with them being part of the same university, any marked changes — better or worse — can be noted and directed to my doctor quickly so that he can see me if needed and help us determine a more definite “diagnosis” of what’s happening.

But, at least I know it’s not something genetic that could pass-down to my sons and I know Husband is feeling much better knowing that there’s not a ticking time bomb in my head. He said he always knew that I was crazy, so now knowing that there’s nothing else wrong up there is fine with him.

I didn’t get all of the answers I wanted, but I got what I needed. And, yes, I may be crazy — but at least now the “it’s-all-in-your-head diagnosis” can be laid to rest.